Kanu Hawaii’s third annual Eat Local Challenge engages thousands of island residents to build a more sustainable, secure, and healthy local food system. Building on the successes of the past two years, the Eat Local Challenge grows from one week to the entire month of September.

“This means two committed and powerful online and mobile communities coming together to support the local economy and boost the food movement,” said Emi Hart, Yelp Honolulu community manager, “We all look forward to seeing what thousands of residents networked by Kanu and Yelp can do to change our island for the better.”

During Yelp Eats Local week, the 11 participating businesses will support the Yelp community and Kanu Hawaii by highlighting locally sourced menu offerings.

• The menu offering features locally grown fare such as a 100% locally grown entree, salad, appetizer and/or dessert.
• A $10 donation is made to Kanu Hawaii for every Yelper that spends at least $30 when they visit during the week. (Yelpers should let servers know they are participating, and drop their receipts in a ballot box provided by Yelp.)

“This is a big win for Hawaii as far as food sustainability goes,” said Kasha Ho, Kanu community organizer. “Engaging the Yelp community to participate with their wallets and forks in the Eat Local Challenge is a monumental win for our local farmers and restaurants.”

Kanu invites Hawaii to make a commitment to taking action in support of a healthy, sustainable, secure food system. Recipes, guides and deals from Eat Local restaurants and market partners are available on Kanu’s website to help support challenge commitments. To take part in the Eat Local Challenge, Kanu Hawaii suggests making a commitment at www.kanuhawaii.org/eatlocal

Founded in 2007, Kanu Hawai‘i is a nonprofit organization with a mission to encourage and support environmental and social change. Its 14,000 members make individual commitments as simple as I will take shorter showers or I will buy local. To make a commitment and help grow the movement, go to www.kanuhawaii.org.

Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people connect with great local businesses. Yelp had more than 58 million unique visitors last month and yelpers have written more than 20 million reviews worldwide, making Yelp the leading local guide for real word-of-mouth reviews on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants and dentists.

One Response

Mahalo for the support and shout out Damon! It’s exciting to be doing this for a third time and it’s only getting bigger. Although we celebrate a month of challenges let us be mindful real change happens everyday and when we do it together, and for that we’re very appreciative for our members, partners and sponsors efforts. Hope all is well with you on Hawaii Island and have a good Eat Local Challenge! Aloha!